Indexing device.



B. S. LOVELAND.

INDEXING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21. 1913 1,089,654, 7 Patented Mar. 10, 1914,

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

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B. S. LOVBLAND.

INDEXING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, 1913.

1,089,654. Patented Mar. 10, 1914;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

" ATES PATENT 1.1 F F TEEa BYRON S. LOVELANI), 0F WINCHENDON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASEaIGNOR T0 WILLIAM 1V1. WHITNEY, OF WINCHENDON, MASSACHUSETTS.

INDEXING DEVICE.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 21, 1913.

Patented Mar. 10, 1914-. Serial No. 802,200.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BYRON S. LOVELAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Winchendon, county of Worcester, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Indexing Devices, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

The invention to be hereinafter described relates to indexing devices, and more particularly to such devices for positioning and locking a rotary tool having a plurality of knives, in proper relation with a sharpening instrument to successively present the knives to the action of the sharpening instrument.

The embodiments of the invention hereinafter described are designed for positioning and locking the cutter cylinder of a wood planer, but it is to be understood that the invention may equally well be adapted to various other machines. An indexing device of this character must position each of the knives in a uniform relation with the sharpening instrument, maintain it. in fixed and predetermined position, and be capable of adjustment to vary this relation. On account of the high speed of rotation of cutter cylinders, slight inequality in the knives due to nonuniformity in grinding causes vibration in the machine which injures the work and also produces undue wear in the cutter bearings; and it is therefore desirable that the devices which determine the grinding position of the several knives and consequently the accuracy of uniform grinding shall not be affected by wear due to repeated use.

The indexing devices at present in use are unsatisfactory in several respects; it is necessary to disconnect the cylinder from its driving means and from. the parts of the planer that are driven from the cylinder shaft because there is no convenient way of turning the cylinder by hand to bring the successive knives into working relation with the grinding instrument, with sufiicient power to move the connected parts. This, of course, involves loss of time. Other objections are that the devices are not readily adjustable to vary the relation of the knives with the grinding instrument and uniformity of the successive positions is lost as the device Wears with use.

The object of the present invention, there fore, is to provide an indexing device which shall be simple in construction, efficient in operation, and which will overcome the obections noted, all'of which will best be understood from the following description and accompanying drawings which disclose two embodiments of the invention, the first being adapted for use with a direct-connected motor-driven cylinder, and the second for use with a belt-driven cylinder.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a plan view of one end of a direct-connected Inot0rdriven cylinder and a portion of the associated parts; Fig. 2 is an end View of the parts shown above, the motor and its coupling with the cylinder shaft being omitted; F ig. 3 is a plan similar to Fig. 1, showing the invention as used with a belt-driven cylinder; and Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 3, the pulley being omitted.

The particular form of cutter cylinder selected for illustration consists of a shaft 1 having a square center portion 2 to which four knives 3 are secured, as by screws 4. The shaft is supported at each side of the machine in a box 5 mounted on the main frame 6. The sharpening instrument is usually a grinding wheel such as is indidated at 7, (Fig. 2) which is mounted to slide on suitable ways parallel with the shaft 1. After the cylinder is secured in position to bring one of the knives into proper relation with the grinding wheel 7, the wheel is moved transversely of the machine to grind the knife uniformly through out its length. The cylinder is then turned to bring the next knife into operating relation with the grinding wheel, and so on, until all may be properly ground.

In the motor-driven cylinder illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, one end of the shaft 1 is connected with a motor 8 by a flexible coupling comprising a collar 10 secured to the shaft 1, a floating disk 11, and a second collar 12 secured to the shaft 13 of the motor. Each side of the disk is provided with a diametrical tongue 9 disposed at right angles to each other, which engage slots 9 in each of the collars 10 and 12. The shaft 1 is driven through the medium of the disk 11 without the necessity of perfect alinement of the cutter and motor shafts.

The indexing device comprises an arm 1% ment the tooth will be automatically having means at one end for positioning it radially of the shaft. The positioning means preferably consists of fork 15, the prongs of which are spaced apart so as to permit their being easily slipped over or about the shaft 1 or some concentric part carried thereby, such as the hub 16 extending from the collar 10. In order to transmit rotary movement from the arm 1a to the shaft 1, the arm is provided with a part or tooth 1'? which is constructed to operatively engage with the shaft in order to turn the latter. In the present instance such operative engagement is afforded by slots 18 cut in the collar 10, the number of slots being equal to the number of knives on the cylinder.

It is apparent that the arm 1% furnishes a good leverage by which the cutter cylinder and any other parts of the machine connected therewith may be rotated to bring the knives successively into grinding position. In order to stop the rotation of the cylinder when one of the knives reaches grinding position, an abutment 19 is secured to the frame 6 or a part of the machine fixed thereto, by cap screws 20. The cap screws pass through slots 21 in the abutment so that the stopping position of the knives may be varied by loosening the screws and adjusting the position of the abutment. The upper end of the abutment is provided with an arm engaging stop or shelf 22 to support the arm and a locking latch 23 which is constructed to be turned over the top of the arm to lock it in position against the shelf 22.

In order to insure that each knife of the series shall be properly located with respect to the grinding means, it is desirable that the shaft turning device or arm 14E shall be operatively and rigidly connected to the shaft in the same relative position with respect to each knife. To this end, and in the present form of the invention, the tooth is made wedge-shaped with the small end toward the shaft and mechanism is provided to seat the tooth firmly in one of the slots 18 before the arm is finally positioned by the abutment. The arm is moved toward the shaft to seat the tooth by the engagement of the angular face 24 on a lug 25 projecting from the arm, with the shelf 22. By this construction the arm 1 1 always assumes the 7 same angular relation with the shaft 1, irrespective of wear between the tooth or slot.

In the use of this form of the invention, the arm 14: is first positioned on the shaft. 1 and then turned to bring the tooth 17 opposite one of the slots 18. The arm may then be moved toward the shaft to engage the tooth in the slot, and the cylinder turned until further movement of the arm is arrested by the shelf 22 on the abutment. During the last partof the turning moveseated in the slot as has been described. Locking the arm and, perforce, the cylinder by means of the latch 2a prepares one of the knives for the grindin operation. The next knife is positioned by unlocking the arm, turning it back so that the lug 25 is free from the shelf 22, withdrawing the arm from the shaft enough to clear the tooth and then repeating the operation with the neXt slot.

The form of the invention best adapted for use on a belt-driven cutter cylinder differs from the previous form principally in the arrangement of the tooth and slot and the direction of the movement employed to seat the tooth in the slot. In this form the arm 14' has a radial tooth 27 which is constructed to co-act with slots 28 in the end of the driving pulley 29. With this construc tion the arm is moved longitudinally of the shaft to seat the tooth. The seating movement is secured by providing an angular face 30 on the abutment 19. The arm is bent slightly so that when it engages the abutment stop or shelf 22, the tooth 27 is securely seated in the slot 28. It is apparent that the angular face 30 will seat the tooth before the arm can be locked by the latch 23 if it has not already been seated. In order to permit the arm 1% to be deflected at its upper portion in seating the projection or 9 tooth 27 in a slot of the pulley 29, the ends of the prongs of the fork 15 are provided with laterallyextending feet 31 which may engage the box 5 or some other fixed part of the machine so as to provide a fulcrum for the arm when it is moved to seat the tooth.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction herein described, but may be varied within the skill of the mechanic, without departing from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

hat is claimed is 1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a cutter shaft, an arm, means for positioning the arm radially of the shaft, means for transmitting rotary movement to the shaft by movement of the arm, an abutment to limit said movement of the arm, and means for rendering the relation of the arm and the shaft rigid before the said movement of the arm is stopped by the abutment.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a cutter shaft, an arm, means to position the arm radially of said shaft, a tooth and slot connection between the arm and the shaft, an abutment to limit the movement of the arm, and means for securely seating the tooth in the slot before the movement of the arm is stopped by the abutment.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a cutter shaft, an arm,

means to position the arm radially of said shaft, a wedge-shaped tooth and slot for connecting the arm and the shaft, an abutment to limit the movement of the arm, and means for securely seating the tooth in the slot during the movement of the arm before it is stopped by the abutment.

4. In a device of the character described, he combination of a cutter shaft, an arm, means to position the arm operatively with relation to the shaft, means for transmitting rotary movement from the arm to the shaft, an abutment to limit the movement of the arm, means to permit adjustment ofthe abutment to vary the movement of the arm, means for rendering the relation of the arm and the shaft rigid before the movement of the arm is stopped by the abutment, and means by which the arm may be locked in engagement with the abutment.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a cutter shaft carrying a series of cutters, means for grinding said cutters, an arm for turning the cutter shaft to bring one of the cutters into operative relation with the grinding means, means for effecting a rigid connection of the arm and cutter shaft to insure proper turning move ment of the shaft by the arm, and means for locking the arm from movement to hold a cutter in position for the action of the grinding means.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination of a cutter shaft, an arm, means to position the arm operatively with relation to the shaft, a tooth and slot connection between the arm and the shaft, an abutment to limit the movement of the arm, and means to move the arm in the plane of the shaft to render the tooth and slot connection of the arm and shaft rigid as the shaft is turned by the arm.

7. In a device of the character described,

the combination of a cutter shaft, an arm having a fork to operatively position the arm with relation to the shaft, a wedgeshaped tooth and co-acting slots connected with the arm and the shaft, an adjustable abutment to limit the movement of the arm, and means actuated by the engagement of the arm and the abutment for forcing the tooth into the slot.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination of a cutter shaft carrying a series of cutters, means for grinding said cutters, an arm for turning the cutter shaft to bring a cutter into position to be ground, means to operatively connect the arm and cutter shaft, means to limit the movement of said arm in a direction to turn the shaft for placing a cutter in position for the action of the grinding means, and means acting automatically to render the connection between the shaft and arm rigid when the limit of arm movement for positioning a cutter for grinding has been reached.

9. In a device of the character described, the combination of a cutter shaft, an arm, means to position the arm radially of the shaft, means for transmitting rotary movement from the arm to the shaft, an abutment to limit the movement of the arm for turning said shaft, and means actuated by engagement of the arm and the abutment to additionally move said arm to insure a predetermined angular relation between the arm and the shaft when the arm is stopped by the abutment.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BYRON S. LOVELAND.

WVitnesses GEORGE W. GREGORY, H. T. PARK.

Genius of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

